Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Monet study continued

"We aim at putting the children in touch with the great artist minds of all ages. We try to unlock for their delectation the wonderful garden of Art, in which grow most lovely flowers, most wholesome fruits. We want to open their eyes and minds to appreciate the masterpieces of pictorial art, to lead them from mere fondness for a pretty picture which pleases the senses up to honest love and discriminating admiration for what is truly beautiful - a love and admiration which are the response of heart and intellect to the appeal addressed to them through the senses by all great works of art." Charlotte Mason

Today we did a picture study on a fragment of Monet's painting , "The Picnic", painted in 1856. We learned that his main interests were outdoor scenes and he appreciated the effects of sunlight. This particular picture is a picnic scene, full of sunlight and dappled shadow. He did not complete the painting as he had run out of money and had to abandon it.

After spending some time studying the painting, the children narrated to each other what they recalled of the painting. It was interesting to note how each of them had seen it in a different way and K told us exactly which parts were unfinished. She has a good eye and I did not pick that up when studying the painting.

We learned how artists give their work a sense of depth by using perspective and we headed outdoors to to experiment with perspective.

Z did a scene with houses on one side and trees lining the other side.

K chose to paint. She used a house to draw the eye into a tree lined avenue, creating depth.